Pregnant woman says she was slapped by cop

Another citizen has alleged brutality at the hands of the police.{{more}}

The latest complaint has been made by Nicole Harry, of Calliaqua. The vendor, who operates a small business in the vicinity of the reclamation site, said that on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, she asked a man who had been sitting on the bench next to her stall eating lunch to pick up the containers that he had left on the ground and to throw them in the garbage container, which he did.

About five minutes later, Harry said she was talking to her cousin and she (the cousin) told her that the man was arguing and saying that it is government’s property and that she was not paying tax there. Harry said she turned to the man and said: “Government didn’t give me hammer and nail to build this.”

Harry said the man then got up and stood in front of her and told her he was going to lock her up. “If yuh stupid lock me up,” Harry said she replied. Harry stated that the man tried to grab her hand and she pulled away. She said she told him that if he was an officer he should show her his identification. The woman said he pulled something from his pocket and showed it to her quickly, before placing it back in his pocket.

The heavily pregnant 31-year-old said the man grabbed on to her hand and this time she fell over on him from the concrete structure where she had been standing. “As soon as I fell on him, … I received one slap in my face for no reason at all,” said Harry who was still visibly in pain. The matter was reported to the Central Police Station, where she was informed that the man is indeed a police officer.

“I feel real bad about this. I have never been in any trouble with the law before. He slapped me and I didn’t do anything,” Harry said. Harry is also of the view that the justice system is not balanced and it only works for certain people.

The disgruntled woman told SEARCHLIGHT that she thinks that the police are abusing their authority and are not carrying out their duty, which is to protect and serve. “They are using their jobs as a shield, with the view that they can do people anything they feel like,” she said. Harry went on to say that the officer should have stated who he was before he grabbed onto her hand.

Searchlight understands that Harry was feeling pains on Tuesday night and had to seek medical attention on Wednesday morning. (KW)